What is it called when an improper meaning becomes the only meaning of a word?


Someone else asked Are camp followers prostitutes? and the answer seems to be that while not every one who follows a military camp is a prostitute, if you aren't referring to a prostitute, you should probably pick another label for the person.


A similar effect can be seen with sexually themed words like "mistress", "madam", "ejaculate", and "escort".


I assume this linguistic process has been studied and I'm curious what its name is.




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